Fireworks
by MysteryGal5
Summary: On a mission, it's Skye who makes the sacrifice play ((AoS AU - Short story))
1. Chapter One

**New story! First Agents of SHIELD multi-chapter fic.**

**Totally AU by the way. **

**Fun Fact: I spent 2 hours writing the whole story. So worth staying up till about 2 AM. ((Wrote this 3 days ago))**

**Pairings: SkyeWard, FitzSimmons. **

**Copyright: Agents of SHIELD, Cause of Death**

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Chapter One:

It was just supposed to be a simple mission.

Someone was planning to drug the city of San Francisco so Coulson's team was sent down there to stop it. Agents Melinda May, Grant Ward and Skye were sent to the base in Alcatraz to put a stop to the operation; Agents Phil Coulson, Jemma Simmons and Leo Fitz were sent to evacuate the city in case the team in Alcatraz were unable to complete their mission.

The drug was in Alcatraz, on a helicopter, which was planned to be given to the city by a pressurized aerial dispersion device.

In Alcatraz, Melinda agreed to handle any combat that was in their way of stopping the helicopter.

On the helipad, the helicopter's motor was running, which meant that it was about to take off towards the city. Melinda was taking care of the guards back there which meant that it was only Skye and Grant running towards the helicopter. They both looked at each other before looking back at their real target.

The helicopter was slowly ascending which made Skye and Grant pick up their speed. Someone, possibly the helicopter's co-pilot, exited the helicopter before it got too high off the helipad.

"You got this, Ward." Skye told him. "I got the drug."

Grant knew she did So he didn't argue. He pulled out his sidearm and shot the man in the shoulder. As he grasped it in pain, Skye dove past him allowing Grant to tackle him.

Skye saw the helicopter in the air and timed her future steps perfectly. She picked up speed, took a step on the helipad's edge and jumped. With one hand, she managed to grab the helicopter's landing skid. Skye gripped it with her other hand and didn't want to know how far she was from the ground. She looked back at Melinda who was wearing one of her usual stone expressions (even though after all this time together, she was able to notice that this one had more concern in it). When she looked back at Grant, all she saw was worry.

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**Okay, that's the first chapter. **

**Chapters shouldn't be that long as word wise, but this is just a short story. So about 7 - 8 chapters. **

**Tell me how you like it so far. Pretty please!**

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	2. Chapter Two

**Wow. This story is off to a good start in terms of followers. Didn't expect that. **

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Chapter Two:

Skye gritted her teeth as she lifted herself, swinging a leg over the skid. She managed to climb inside the bay of the chopper. Getting up, Skye faced the cockpit - but an impossibly strong hand seized her throat.

It was the pilot.

Skye pulled on the pilot's arm, but her strength was nothing compared to his. The helicopter was hurtling towards the city on autopilot.

The pilot threw her hard onto the floor of the chopper. She slid, knocking her head against the aerial dispersion device that was bolted into the hold.

Skye snapped her gun out of its holster but the pilot instantly pounced on her, pinning her wrist to the floor with one hand. Her wrist was cracking from the pressure.

"You should have stayed back in Alcatraz." He told her.

"I was thinking the same about you." Skye replied.

"Now you failed everyone you love." He hissed.

Skye didn't let him get to her. She wasn't going to waste one second thinking about the people she loved making her vulnerable.

She tried to get up, but the pilot leaned his knee into her chest. She couldn't move. With his free hand, he closed it over her skull and squeezed.

Skye's body was on fire with pain. Her cranium was about to collide with her brain. Her pistol was shaking in her trapped hand. She twisted it as much as she could to aim upwards and she shot.

The bullet ricocheted off the chopper's ceiling.

Suddenly, the pilot's grip on her went limp. He slumped over like a rag doll.

Skye pushed him off of her, scrambled up and took a moment to catch her breath. The pilot lied on the floor, twitching. In the centre of his back, she saw the bullet hole where her shot severed he spine. Skye wiped blood from her mouth.

"Yeah," she said, "and stay down!"

She limped over to the aerial dispersion device, its large bulbous tanks of pressurized drug vapour protruding from every side. She read the timer.

2:29...2:28..

Skye quickly grabbed her cellphone and dialled a number.

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**Who do you think Skye is calling?**

**By the way, the chapters are supposed to be short. **

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	3. Chapter Three

**Okay, 22 follows and 6 reviews. Well that's sad. Come on guys! I really want to know your thoughts! **

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Chapter Three:

On the rooftop of an office building in the near-empty San Francisco, stood Phil, Jemma and Leo. Jemma heard her phone ringing and she was excited that it was her.

"Skye?!"

Since it was Skye, her call was placed on speaker.

"Skye, where are you?" Jemma asked.

_"Long story short,"_ Skye panted,_ "I'm in a helicopter about to fly over the city."_

Phil, Jemma and Leo squinted against the sun and spotter her chopper against the sunset.

"We see you!" Leo exclaimed.

_"I'm in a bit of a jam here, Fitz."_ Skye said._ "Could use some help. This chopper is carrying an aerial dispersion device and enough drug to kill everyone."_

"Oh my god..." Jemma muttered.

"How much time?" Phil questioned.

_"Just over 2 minutes." _Skye responded. _"Listen to me, Fitz. I've got only 2 minutes left before this thing goes off. I don't have time to fly the chopper out of range. I need to disarm this thing. Model ZX4X-B. Walk me through it."_

"Already searching..." Leo muttered typing as quickly a he could on his tablet. "Got it!"

He pulled up a holographic diagram of it for Jemma and Phil to see. He clicked on a database and found the schematics.

"Okay, here we go." Leo said. "There's an emergency shutdown switch inside a panel on the lower right-hand side of the device."

_"I see it!"_ Skye exclaimed.

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**So that chapter was short. Lol.**

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	4. Chapter Four

**Yeah, yeah. Chapters are short. I know. But this story is short in general. Hence the term, short story. Actually I think this chapter is longer compared to the other ones. **

**Recap: Skye was on a helicopter with a bomb ready to blow. She dialled for FitzSimmons for help on how to stop it.**

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Chapter Four:

Skye's fingers found the panel and she pulled it. But nothing happened. It didn't move. She tried again grunting in the process. The panel didn't move.

"It's welded shut." Skye told them. "I guess they thought of that too."

_"No..."_ Leo muttered. _"Hang on Skye. I'm looking. We're all looking."_

Skye stood there speechless. She looked at the timer as it continued to tick away.

1:15...1:14...

Beneath the chopper, the bay turned to water then to concrete. Skye could see the police force guiding the crowds of civilians being herded towards the subway. They'll never make it out in time.

Without hesitating, Skye knew what she had to do.

"It's okay, Fitz." She said.

_"No!"_ He yelled back. _"Skye, no! I'm - we're still looking! There has to be another way!"_

"There is."

Skye rose to her feet. She pulled out her gun from it holster. Her fingers flexed on the pistol grip, and she stared down at the pressurized tank of drugs.

"This crap is volatile." Skye stated. "Well, from what I've learned from SHIELD, there's nothing that a good old fashioned explosion can't fix."

**OoOoOoOoOo**

"What...?" Jemma stammered. "What is she saying? Skye! Skye, don't please."

"Skye," Phil started being more serious, "take the chopper to the ground, we'll do it here. That's an order! You hear me Skye?! I order you to get down here!"

**OoOoOoOoOo**

Skye peered over the edge. She was still thousands of feet up.

"No time, AC." She told him. "Now or never."

**OoOoOoOoOo**

Phil grimaced, his eyes crinkled; Jemma's eyes filled with tears and Leo looked at the ground with no expression.

"I guess you're going to get away with it this time, Skye." Phil told her. He could hear a small smile etch onto her face which was what she really needed right now.

"Skye," Jemma started as the tears did, "I need you to come back. I'm not strong enough for this place."

"But you're smart enough." Skye told her. "Smarter than I ever was. Keep learning at Hogwarts and make sure you and Fitz stay in one piece. Make note if The Calvary cries over me, which I doubt, and Coulson, thank you."

Jemma wiped away the tears streaking her cheeks. Leo rubbed her shoulders and Coulson gave a small smirk.

"What do I tell Ward?" Leo asked her. He noticed that Grant was the only person Skye didn't mention.

**OoOoOoOoOo**

Skye swallowed the hard lump now in her throat. She tried not to cry about Grant Ward as she was trying to think of a last message for him. She should have called him but she didn't have the time to. Grant Ward. A man she loved. And he loved her back. A lot. There were so many things she wanted to tell him and goodbye wasn't on the list...

"...Tell him he owes me one."

Skye hung up.

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**There! You people got a longer chapter! You happy now?! Lol, the SkyeWard feels! The cliffhanger! The reviews I'm not getting! Seriously people, SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS!**

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	5. Chapter Five

Chapter Five:

"Skye?!" Jemma yelled through the phone. "Skye?!"

"Oh my god..." Phil muttered running his forehead. "Call her back."

Leo quickly dialled her number again but nothing was on the other end. Not even her voicemail. Just nothing.

"There's no response." Leo told them. "Is she -"

"No!" Jemma exclaimed. "Shut up, Fitz! Just shut up!"

"Jemma..." Leo muttered as the scientist continued to cry. She placed her face in her hands and just sat on the rooftop. He looked out to the distance. "Skye's not gone yet. Her chopper is still there. Coulson, what do we do?"

Phil took a breath. "We wait..."

**OoOoOoOoOo**

Skye blinked away the tears and gazed out looking in both ways. Straight ahead was the city where she knew Jemma was crying her eyes out, Fitz was probably soothing Jemma and Phil was possibly just standing there thinking of all the memories they shared. Then back across the bay where Alcatraz shrunk towards the horizon, stood Melinda and Grant who have no idea of her sacrifice. Though she knew it was impossible to see from where she stood, she could see both of them gazing back.

The gun dangled in her grip. Through the bay doors, the sunset bathed in gold. It's warm lights reminded her of Grant's hugs as the rays hit her face.

Behind her, the pilot lied prone, broken.

"You're afraid!" He hissed at her. "You're afraid! Just like you were when you had a gun pointed at Ian Quinn!"

Skye exhaled. She ignored every word that pilot had to say. Was she afraid? Yes, she was but not of her death. She was afraid of losing all her friends who quickly became her family (or boyfriend) when she had none. Phil and Melinda were like her mom and dad. Then Leo and Jemma were like the nerdy brother and sister.

If she wanted one last thought in her head, she thought back to the Fourth of July which seemed like a lifetime ago. That first night she spent in Grant Ward's arms.

She smirked.

"Hey!" She called getting the pilots attention. She had to kick his crippled body to make sure that they were seeing eye-to-eye. "Know what my favorite part of the holidays are?"

The pilot was just shooting death glares at her with his eyes.

"Not the feast, family time, presents or drinks." She continued. "Not even the kisses. Do you want to guess?"

Instead of a respond, she still got the same expression from him.

"The fireworks."

She aimed her gun at the tanks and didn't hesitate to pull the trigger.

**OoOoOoOoOo**

Thousands of feet below, Jemma dug her head into Leo's shoulder not willing to witness this. Phil lowered his head looking at the building rooftop. But Leo saw it all. He watched the helicopter explode with Skye in it. He witnessed as the helicopter turned into sparks but eventually disappeared into a black cloud of smoke and flame.

"Skye!" Leo screamed out into the sky even though they all knew that she couldn't hear him any longer.

**OoOoOoOoOo**

Across the bay, Melinda paused at the sound of the detonation. She looked out across the water and saw the debris falling from the sky. Her expression changed from stone cold to extremely shocked in seconds.

"Oh god..." She muttered.

Staggering across the helipad, Grant stopped. He sunk to his knees. He stayed there unable to look away from the site. The wind has already begun wiping the smoke away. His throat clenched up as his anger built. He balled his fists just wanting to scream as loud as he can - but nothing came out.

Melinda knew this. The stages of grief. One, denial. She saw that on Grant's face when the chopper blew. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Two, anger. That was when his anger built up and he balled his fists. She knew just to let him be alone where he was and not try to comfort him since he was grieving.

They were all grieving.

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**Well, depressing. **

**Feel free to hit me or throw a watermelon at me. But hey, you guys got a longer chapter this time. Be happy for that. **

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	6. Chapter Six

**So this is the last chapter.**

**Recap: Skye's chopper exploded with her in it and everyone witnessed it.**

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Chapter Six:

Two days later, Phil, Jemma, Leo, Melinda and Grant, along with many other SHIELD agents, were sitting the middle of a graveyard late at night.

Beside Melinda, Phil dabbed his eyes with a tissue and while he wasn't looking at her, Melinda tried to blink back a few tears. But Phil didn't say anything if he saw one or two escape.

The handful of attendees watched in silence as the empty coffin was sealed, only a large portrait of her was inside, and lowered into the earth.

Jemma blew her nose, clutching a crinkled photo to her chest. The one from Skye's van, the whole team grinning like idiots (they even got Melinda to). Leo was beside her with his arm around her shoulders just in case she wanted to cry into his shirt again.

Nearby, the tears flowed freely down Grant's sullen face. Jemma leaned over and offered him a tissue from her box. He took one.

A popping sound echoed over the cemetery as fireworks sparkled in the sky. Gazing up at the fizzing, flickering lights were the thousands of civilians standing up vigil beyond the cemetery gates in honor of the woman who saved the city. Each one of them with an unlit firework in their hands, only because,

Skye loved fireworks.

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**And that's the end of Fireworks.**

**I would love to thank all of you who've read, followed, favorite and reviewed this story! I have many more stories up my sleeve so I will be back!**

**~MysteryGal5**


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